Dahr Jamail is supposed to have an interview with Socialist Worker magazine but I'm not finding it online. Check yourself because I may be missing it. (Eric Ruder is the interviewer.)
But for those jones-ing for new posts to Iraq Dispatches, I'll point to these two articles in Socialist Worker.
"We will resist U.S. empire, say voices across Middle East:"
"Iraqi culture is being crushed under the tracks of US tanks," says Dahr Jamail, one of the few independent journalists reporting from occupied Iraq. He is clear what is happening there.
He tells Socialist Worker this week that "day by day... more people have been enraged by the occupation and are joining the resistance".
The anti-war movement takes to the streets in force on Saturday to show the massive and continuing anger at the occupation of Iraq and the threat of war against Iran and Syria.
March 19, 2005 "Dahr Jamail on his experience of the Iraqi resistance:"
I first began reporting from Iraq in November 2003 after seeing the disparity between the mainstream media and independent reports coming out of the country. I had done so much reading before my first trip that I felt I knew what to expect.
But the reality was much worse than I imagined. I was shocked by how brutal the occupation was and how intense the anti-American sentiment was among so many Iraqis. I saw how there was no reconstruction taking place. Every building was in a complete shambles.
Six months into the occupation, Iraqis were talking about how even under sanctions they were able to rebuild power stations and services, while here was the most powerful army in the world and they had achieved nothing. Billions of dollars had been allocated to reconstruction, yet no work had been done.
I was struck by the growing poverty among ordinary people. Before the invasion the jobless rate was 30 percent. By November 2003 it had risen to 40 percent. Now it is well over 50 percent. Jobs are so hard to come by now that many Iraqis have been reduced to begging or selling little bits and pieces.
The above are excerpts. And check the site because I must be missing the interview. Here is an excerpt from the interview I can't find:
Dahr Jamail: I was in Falluja during the April siege last year for a couple of days, and then I went back in May several times to report on what happened. But I didn't go in November, because the military cordoned off the city and maintains that cordon to this day. They're not letting any journalists in there. I’ve been getting information by interviewing refugees, or through some of my colleagues who have been in and out of the city several times.Life there is horrendous. At least 65 percent of the buildings have been bombed to the ground, and what’s left has been severely damaged. There's no water, no electricity and, of course, no jobs. And when people go back into the city, they have to get a retina scan and get fingerprinted, and then they're issued an ID card.
Then they go inside to find what's left of their homes, and in a really horrible situation in which the military remains in total control of the town. There are snipers everywhere, and the ambulances aren't able really to run--they're still being targeted by the military. The one remaining hospital--Falluja General Hospital--is barely functioning, because people have to go through checkpoints to get there.
Life in Falluja is really a horror story. Most of the city's residents are refugees and will continue to be refugees for quite some time. They're scattered in small towns on the outskirts of Falluja, as well as Baghdad and other cities. The last estimate I heard was about 25,000--maybe a little bit more than that--had returned back to a city that once had a population of 350,000.
On March 21st, we had a post here entitled "Forget Matt Lauer, where in the world is Dahr Jamail?" that listed his speaking engagements. Here are his engagements for April:
April 05, 2005
Port Townsend, Washington
Tuesday, April 5 at 7 p.m.
Dahr Jamail Is Coming to Port Townsend !
Location:
Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden State Park
April 09, 2005
Santa Cruz, California
Saturday, April 9, 2005 - 7:00 pm
Dahr Jamail, one of the only Independent, Unembedded journalists in Iraq, speaks
in Santa Cruz
Location:
The Santa Cruz Vets Hall - 846 Front Street, Santa Cruz, CA
April 10, 2005
Sonoma County, California
Sunday, April 10th at 2:00 pm
Interviews with Dahr Jamail
Location:
Sonoma State University’s Cooperage Auditorium
April 11, 2005
Oakland, California
Monday, April 11, 6:30 pm
Dahr Jamail Reports Back From Iraq
Location:
Nahl Hall, CCA Oakland Campus, 5212 Broadway
April 13, 2005
UC Berkeley, California
Wednesday, April 13, 2005 - 5:30-7:30 pm
Dahr Jamail speaks at UC Berkeley
Location:
3108 Etcheverry Hall, UC Berkeley
And we'll also note this since it's on May 1st and I will probably be doing the usual catch up at that time:
May 01, 2005
Brussels, Belgium
Sunday, May 1st , 2005 1 pm
Conference: What road to peace in Iraq?
Location:
Brussels, Belgium.
Free University of Brussels Pleinlaan 2 1050
Brussels-Ixelles
Mark it on your calender, make yourself a note or bookmark the post. (Don't count on me to remember to do a heads up on my own the day before an event.)
